Arrow Arrow Season 3 Episode 15 "Nanda Parbat" Discussion Thread

[luis4u]

I think I saw a couple arrows with the vials on them.

But, I'm not so sure about the bullets. I mean, Dig is an expert marksman...but soldiers shoot to kill. Though, I've seen this stuff on Person of Interest...they, atleast, do the old James Bond movie trick of showing you the guys atleast moving around or getting up afterwards.

Then again, that post seems a little sarcastic. Kind of like a "no animals were harmed during the shooting of this film" kind of thing.

rubber bullets honest

 

[ChrisBaleBatman]

Well as far as I'm aware of, Talia is older than Nyssa. So, with that being the case, wouldn't that make Talia the real "heir to the demon"? With the way Nyssa has been introducing herself, it seems as though she's Ra's only child.

Plus, what's the point of introducing the idea that Batman exists within this universe if he's pretty much off-limits? It's like a bigger tease than what Smallville did with Tom Welling and the Superman Suit.lol

Actually, Nyssa is older. Nyssa is supposedly his oldest daughter, though I think "oldest known" daughter is more accurate considering Ra's age.

In the comics, Nyssa was born in 18th century Russia. Talia was a modern born kid for the time. Probably his youngest. Talia's probably supposed to be in her 20's, if she exists

It's worth remembering that in "Uprising", we did see Nyssa as a child approach Malcolm where in which he got his name "The Magician". So, Nyssa's probably not anywhere near as old as she was in the comics. I think there was mention that Nyssa had like twelve children, too. Which is something that I wouldn't expect, like her age, to follow the comics on the show.

I think there's a danger in name dropping, creating expectation, and not delivering. The moment Bruce is mentioned, or Batman is mentioned, you just know the headline on sites will be "Is Batman Coming To Starling City?" or Twitter will explode with #BatmanStarlingCity or something. That hype would be great, if they could actually have him show up. But, if they can't...you'll just disappoint people who will get excited by social media and click bait on websites.

My guess on Talia, is that she wouldn't be a prominent character. She's tied to Batman more than Ra's al Ghul is. Ra's has been featured in Green Arrow comics, and been an adversary of the Justice League. Talia, even when DC Comics has mishandled her (*cough*sleepingwithJasonTodd*cough*) has always been seen as Bruce's "beloved". It might just be one step too close to Batman than I think they might want to get.

 

[Boy Scout]

Yeah, I agree. Especially Nable. The more and more scenes he gets as Ra's, the better and better a fit he seems. I think the longer hair and thicker goatee made him look better. I'm really liking him as Ra's so far.

I agree. He just keeps getting better and better. I'll always wish that the part had gone to a Middle Eastern actor, but that isn't his fault.

Can't say that I like what they're doing with his hair, though.

Yeah, that's true. It does seem like other characters might be interpreting that way, which maybe has me thinking it too. But, his scene with Nyssa did seem like genuine fatherly concern.

Agreed. If the general misinterpretation of Ra's' concern was intentional, then the creative team deserves a pat on the back.

Though, knowing the Lazarus Pits could be in play...and that Ra's could be 700 years old or so, I think part of me wonders if they'll play into his old time, traditional aspect or something. But, I think if that were true he probably would have done something else than merely "disapprove".

Absolutely. If he'd REALLY had it out for Sara, she probably would've died a long time ago.

I loved that line. It has you thinking that he's not intolerant, but just not comfortable or knows how to best express himself about it. He seemed like such an old man, that it was kinda funny.

I love moments like that. Blackthorne delivered the line perfectly. I don't doubt that a less capable actor would've drawn criticism.

 

[herolee10]

Out of all the so called villains that we've had on this, Ra's is the only one that hasn't come off (as of yet) as being either seriously evil or even deranged.

Brutal? Yes. Aggressive? Yes. But so far, we haven't really seen him portrayed as a real evil man. They've (producers) have really stayed true to keeping Ra's follow his own logic of having replaced evil with "death".

And Oliver, as of yet, still has no real personal vendetta to be against him. I don't think Ra's even cares about killing Oliver, let alone attacking his sister.

 

[zenith16]

Honestly, if Batman exists in this universe.... then his presence would pretty much neuter Oliver's.lol

Batman is, without a doubt, better at being a hero than Oliver is at practically every way possible.

Hell, even if Bruce is also a playboy, at least he got some code of ethics/conscious on how he goes about handling his business. He doesn't cheat on a woman that he's involved with by doing her younger sister.lol

And I say all of this without being Batman's biggest fan or seeing him as "Bat-God".

nah it wouldn't I stated many times & even though it's true green arrow was known & used a rip off of batman with arrow mobile & cave to a degree or more that when batman /Bruce met Oliver he ripped off bat man to get on his nerves with the arrow mobile EtC & that started their friendly rivalry.

Oliver is older then Batman and started his journey before him. Let's say with in this universe when Oliver came back to starling Bruce was just finishing up his final lesion of his ninja training season 2-3 of arrow he was already being the bat, met an about to turn 18 year Richard grayson who they will both will inspire Babara to be come bat girl . or in any other way still this version of bat man in this universe just hasn't met Ra's which can happen . or Ras has alternative to Bruce which can also happen.

The only reason bat man is more known was cause gothem was more of a mess then Oliver main town of a city. there's always a event where beside terrorist like events it's under siege. next to Blud haven which was worse the gotham & a few others that were worse then two with in the DCU. this is why. alot of people forget this the way I see it is that Bruce isn't well known in this universe, Oliver is also too busy to care about national news , his focus is starling most of the time besides the island they keep making return to.

 

[herolee10]

nah it wouldn't I stated manytime & even though it's true gree arrow was known & used a rip of of batma wiht arrow mobile cave to a degree or more that when batman bruce met oliver he riped off bat man to get o his nerves & that started their friendly rivalry. Oliver is older then bat man and started his journey before him.

The only reason bat man is more known was cause gothem was more of a mess then oliver main town of a city. there's always a event where beside terrorist like events it's under siege. next blude haven which was worse the gotham a few others that were then worse t the two. this why.

Please don't take this personal, but didn't you say that you were going to get a new keyboard for your computer awhile back (when there are always typos in your posts)?lol

A bit difficult at times to read what you're saying in your posts.haha

 

[zenith16]

Please don't take this personal, but didn't you say that you were going to get a new keyboard for your computer awhile back (when there are always typos in your posts)?lol

A bit difficult at times to read what you're saying in your posts.haha

it's corrected

I posted faster cause I was about to have issue an didn't want a bad dead zone event I've been having of late still so copy & paste that corrected post above you. as I said Oliver's older & started some time before bat man. yeah I'm still in the process of that last part (the key board ) sorry I did buy a newer modem which cost a bit but I'm still having issues.

 

[Marvin]

Curious, does anyone think Ollie will take the offer?

Also, for anyone that thinks he will, do you also think it's a good idea for the show?

Also, does Ra's make the same offer to Batman every so often?

 

[Arrowshieldfan]

I going to guess that Ra's/Oliver conflict will be professional/business like where Ra's proves to Oliver he can't be hero to save the "small fish"

 

[zenith16]

Curious, does anyone think Ollie will take the offer?

Also, for anyone that thinks he will, do you also think it's a good idea for the show?

Also, does Ra's make the same offer to Batman every so often?

He 'll have to, he has no escape plan he didn't learn that ( the art of escape) cause Waller didn't let him go through spy school training cause she just wanted an attack dog assassin rush him out the door in that world . which head straight to torture instead of other methods which Laural of all people knows how to do that to criminals . and if you look at the other people that both Oliver & Maseo Katana's husband work with their lacking something too as they have shown with china white with that bio weapon at that starling wear house befor Oliver met that general. he's not the brightest person thanks to her in the spy world. he has very limited chose/ option's of leavings Ra's dungeon or leavings Nanda Parbat alive with diggle in toe at all.

 

[metaphysician]

That's not a problem with the "Ra's engineered everything" theory so much as with the offer. If you accept the offer as genuine, there's nothing you said inconsistent with the theory that Ra's engineered everything.

No, it is a problem, because it basically makes Ra's into a moron. There isn't any net improvement to the writing quality, it just shifts almost all the bad writing onto a single character.

 

[metaphysician]

And yes, I generally think Nyssa would be the best successor. Yes, she's young and a little impulsive. She's also broadly competent, ideologically compatible with the league, and certainly loyal. She is superior to every suggested candidate in all ways save the one I suspect is the problem for Ra's: she's female. The thing is, even if he is absolutely dead set against choosing Nyssa as his successor, why not pick from the elite inside the League? Yes, it may not be optimal. . . but its *still a better choice than Ollie*.

 

[bes628]

They should have introduced Silver Monkey or one of those guys to compete with Nyssa for the head of the league.

 

[COMPO]

I do feel Oliver should have gone after Malcolm just to stop him from revealing to Ra's that Thea killed Sara. The trying to save Thea's soul seems kind of forced for them to save Merlyn.

Ra's was great in this episode, I'm really enjoying this actor. Okay the ending was a bit Batman but really this show has homaged and ripped off Batman so many times it easy to look over. We know Oliver will probably refuse but it would be cool if he became Ra's student.

Thea was good in this episode as was Laurel, both of them dealt with the situation well and were written well in this episode. Diggle was really cool.

Also, no killing from Oliver but I'll fire a flaming arrow at someone... wouldn't that kill someone?

 

[bes628]

I cannot be the only one is underwhelmed by the LOA performance. Oliver is taking too many out, too easily at this point, with my main gripe being Nyssa.

They have Nyssa always giving Malcolm that work, and then Malcolm gives Oliver more than he can handle, yet Oliver always takes down Nyssa with a certain ease.

Makes everything just so blah.

 

[Mike Murdock]

No, it is a problem, because it basically makes Ra's into a moron. There isn't any net improvement to the writing quality, it just shifts almost all the bad writing onto a single character.

It's a problem with the offer, though, isn't it? Wouldn't he be a moron for making the offer? What difference does it make whether he engineered other events leading up to the offer or not?

 

[Boy Scout]

I cannot be the only one is underwhelmed by the LOA performance. Oliver is taking too many out, too easily at this point, with my main gripe being Nyssa.

They have Nyssa always giving Malcolm that work, and then Malcolm gives Oliver more than he can handle, yet Oliver always takes down Nyssa with a certain ease.

Makes everything just so blah.

No, I'm right there with you.

 

[Loki882]

Yeah the show is really inconsistent with people's fighting abilities. Oliver can apparently handle Nyssa without too much trouble (he's done it twice now, and I still don't like it), yet she can beat down Malcolm, was kicking Oliver's ass all throughout Season 1. Seriously writers, I don't think that a little consistency is too much to ask for.

 

[zenith16]

Yeah the show is really inconsistent with people's fighting abilities. Oliver can apparently handle Nyssa without too much trouble (he's done it twice now, and I still don't like it), yet she can beat down Malcolm, was kicking Oliver's ass all throughout Season 1. Seriously writers, I don't think that a little consistency is too much to ask for.

it's cause she's in rage mode when ever she around someone like the killer of Sara, this is why Oliver beats her. which I'm sure Ras view's as her weakness too besides wanting a male to further his blood line.

not that he wouldn't adopt he might let it be known he has another daughter too, so who knows since we know Nyssa only likes women, so Ras has alternatives to the bat in this universe & Nyssa (he obviously can't force her & if he does & she rejects, he'll just pass her over.) he has option's. if they introduce Talia or hint of her ,but not use her at all.

 

[Paradox1]

I saw this pointed out somewhere, but they said Nyssa and Laurel are a lot alike. Which explains how well they've bonded since Sara's death. They are stubborn, bullheaded and extremely impulsive. To me Ra's must know this, and finds those qualities to be incompatible with being heir to the demon. I can't really blame him in feeling that way.

However what I find more interesting is how does Nyssa deal with no longer being the heir. She's been groomed for this since her birth, it's part of her identity. Without it I wonder how she will adjust or if she'll fight for it.

 

[zenith16]

I saw this pointed out somewhere, but they said Nyssa and Laurel are a lot alike. Which explains how well they've bonded since Sara's death. They are stubborn, bullheaded and extremely impulsive. To me Ra's must know this, and finds those qualities to be incompatible with being heir to the demon. I can't really blame him in feeling that way.

However what I find more interesting is how does Nyssa deal with no longer being the heir. She's been groomed for this since her birth, it's part of her identity. Without it I wonder how she will adjust or if she'll fight for it.

And captain Lance said Laural is like him personality wise of his two daughters . BTW that personality doesn't always make for the best relations. getting along with anyone at all , it can make a lot of things way worse.

 

[Seb]

So with the whole 'Ra's disapproved of Nyssa being with Sara because he didn't trust or like Sara' thing, how did he go from there to 'My heir should be Oliver Queen, the Starling City vigilante who shares a huge number of traits with that Sara chick I hate'?

I mean, seriously, insofar as ideology and skills go, Sara was pretty much on par with Ollie. Oliver must have been Lazarus Pitted, it would explain why he and Ra's are both complete morons with not stable form of logic.

 

[Human Torch]

rubber bullets honest

Yeah. I've considered that a possibility.Ollie is against killing but he's ok with Digg killing? It makes no sense any other way.


I've never really seen the worth in the gripe about "Ollie shouldn't be able to beat Nyssa!". Let's get real here. Ollie's been trained by several people (not the least of which was Slade Wilson) over years in the harshest conditions imaginable. He should be enough of a match for her.

 

[zenith16]

So with the whole 'Ra's disapproved of Nyssa being with Sara because he didn't trust or like Sara' thing, how did he go from there to 'My heir should be Oliver Queen, the Starling City vigilante who shares a huge number of traits with that Sara chick I hate'?

I mean, seriously, insofar as ideology and skills go, Sara was pretty much on par with Ollie. Oliver must have been Lazarus Pitted, it would explain why he and Ra's are both complete morons with not stable form of logic.

but the logic has always been bad from the writers this season sadly. We'll have to see what they do to recover though.

Yeah. I've considered that a possibility.Ollie is against killing but he's ok with Digg killing? It makes no sense any other way.


I've never really seen the worth in the gripe about "Ollie shouldn't be able to beat Nyssa!". Let's get real here. Ollie's been trained by several people (not the least of which was Slade Wilson) over years in the harshest conditions imaginable. He should be enough of a match for her.

It's cause she was trained strait from child hood to be nothing but a assassin. she has seniority over him on & mercenary are still slightly different in what they train in & operate over all compared to them. . Even if people( like certai writers at times) like to put them in "catch all terms"which they shouldn't but do any way sadly. Also with how skilled she should be she will most likely have more tricks of that trade too.

But they show screaming her head off strusting at him almost tripping over her self when shes in rage so..... All cause she's near the person that killed her beloved at the very same time moment .....

 

[herolee10]

You know, the weirdest thing about this episode (or at least, one of the weirdest things) was that they pretty much just neutered/killed/contradicted Oliver's first and foremost reason for having challenged Ra's Al Ghul in "The Climb".

The only reason why Oliver went through that ordeal from the start was because Merlin told him that if something were to happen to him (Merlin), then the video of Thea killing Sara would be released and the LOA would then go after Thea.

However, we just had Oliver telling Diggs that he never believed that Merlin would risk Thea in the first place, so what's going on here?lol